Arrow rests for compound bows provide a steadying surface for the shaft of an arrow as the user prepares to fire the arrow at a target. More specifically, arrow rest launchers allow the user to make aiming adjustments based on the surrounding environmental conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction) while reducing the tendency of dropping of the arrow by the user or otherwise losing selected arrow positioning necessary for good aiming and maintaining the tail of the arrow in proper contact with the string of the bow for firing thereof.
One common problem with arrow rest launchers is that the fletching of the arrow, necessary for proper aerodynamic properties, may contact a launcher when firing and change the desired trajectory of the arrow. So-called “drop away” arrow rests and the like have been developed to reduce the tendency of fletching contacting the launcher when an arrow is fired. The movement of the launcher out of the way of the fletching takes place substantially after the arrow has been fired (by releasing the bow string) but before the tail region of the arrow where the fletching is located has passed the launcher. Traditional fall away rests lift the arrow into position as the bow is drawn. This eliminates the possibility of holding the arrow securely in the prelaunch position. Lifting the arrow as it is drawn also caused the arrow to “hop” off the rest when the archer reaches full draw if he has drawn the bow too quickly as is often the case when someone excitedly draws his bow on a game animal. Traditional drop away arrow rests are complicated in design and thus are prone to failure in the varied environmental conditions in which compound bows are often used. For instance, many hunters find themselves in many types of weather situations due to the fact that “big game” are located in mountainous terrain or other cold weather habitats. An arrow rest should be reliable and easy to use even in adverse weather conditions. Nevertheless, some drop away arrow rests only engage the “drop away” feature when the bow string is released at a certain rate or is “snapped back” when firing an arrow. The components necessary to effect this type of drop away feature are susceptible to failure in temperature extremes, and complicate the firing procedure for the user.